


Back to school

by kirst003



Category: Ghostbusters (2016)
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-09-24
Updated: 2016-09-24
Packaged: 2018-08-17 01:05:05
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,411
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8124613
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kirst003/pseuds/kirst003
Summary: Erin has been leaving in the middle of the day for hours at a time with no explanation. Abby is curious, and concerned that Erin is hiding something from her again.





	

Things had settled down after the near end of the world. They were still busy busting ghosts, but there was still down time where they could just relax. Abby noticed Erin would leave every couple of weeks or so for the entire afternoon and come back like nothing had happened. She’d never really asked Erin what it was about. Erin was back and they were all happy, logically she knew that. But Abby couldn’t ignore the nagging voice in the back of her mind that reminded her that they’d been happy before and Erin had left. 

It’d been about a month since Abby last noticed Erin slip off for the afternoon, and it looked like she was about to head out again. Abby tried not to be obvious in watching Erin, but she stole glances of Erin packing up her work over the top of the book she was reading. This time though it looked like Erin had a slightly different plan for her afternoon. “I know you’ve seen me disappear for afternoons without explanation, I really appreciate you not asking me what it was all about, but I’d really like to show you if you’ve got the time?” Erin asked quietly. “Uhh yeah of course Erin” Abby replied closing her book and almost launching out of the armchair she was sitting in, just in case Erin was to change her mind.

It was a quiet drive, and Abby was confused when they arrived. They were at a local high school. Was Erin spending some time teaching high school kids? Before she had a chance to ask any questions Erin had grabbed her hand “I’ll explain everything after, I promise.” Abby could only just nod at Erin, staring intently at their joined hands. Aside from a few hugs, mostly after busts, they hadn’t really touched. They definitely hadn’t held hands, not since, well, not since before. Erin led them through the school, pausing to give a quick hello here and there when she saw people she clearly knew. She led them to the back of an empty auditorium. “Just wait here, it’ll all make sense soon.” Erin said as she quickly rushed off towards the stage.

Abby didn’t have to wait long before dozens of children, began filing in and taking seats. Talking loudly amongst themselves. They would have been about 13 or 14 Abby guessed. Shortly after they were all seated Erin was being introduced on stage by a strict looking lady who Abby assumed was a teacher or the principal. The kids went nuts, the Mayor had tried to cover up the existence of ghosts, but the truth was still out there, and these kids knew of the Ghostbusters.

Erin stepped up to the microphone and the kids calmed down enough to let Erin speak.  
“Ok ok, so you know who I am. That I’m part of the Ghostbusters. But before all that, when I was a kid, a few years younger than you are now I saw my first ghost. The mean old lady from next door had recently died, and every night for a long time after that I saw her standing at the foot of my bed. No one believed me. Not my parents and not my friends. They thought I was crazy. That’s when the bullying started at school. I was the ghost girl. They would joke I was crazy, say I was making things up for attention because my parents didn’t love me. They would leave things in my locker, more than once I found a dead rat in with my books. There was a solid month where no one, other than the teachers, even acknowledged my existence. They treated me like I was a ghost myself. My friends didn’t hang around long. Within 6 months of it starting I was completely alone. No one ever stood up for me, and no one ever said anything about it. My teachers acted like nothing was happening. There was no one I could trust in the world. I felt sad all the time, and I didn’t know what to do. I wondered what it would be like to just never wake up, but my dreams were as bad as being awake. I tried to pretend to my parents that I had never seen the ghost. But I was terrified every night going to sleep she would come back. The bullying didn't stop when I started high school. Somehow it was worse, or I felt worse – hormones really enhance everything when you’re a teenager (this got a laugh out of the kids). I’m not sure anymore. They certainly got more discrete in there torment. One day though there was a new girl in school. She walked right up to me and introduced herself, she had to have heard the rumours. Abby was her name. She was the first person to ever believe me, and the first person in almost 8 years to treat me like a real person. We became fast friends, and she stood up for me like no one ever had before. She was loud, and when she yelled at some kid for calling me ghost girl it would draw attention to what was going on. Things got better. It didn’t fix everything. I was still sad often. But having someone support me, stand up for me and say the bullying was not ok, made me believe that things could be good again. It’s a long winded story I know. But my point, and there is a point, is that bullying is not ok. Most of you would have seen or experienced some kind of bullying already. It’s not fun, and for a lot of people it doesn’t work out as well as it did for me. But all it takes is one person to stand up and go ‘hey this is not ok’ to change someone’s life for the better. Be that person. Because you don’t know who the person being bullied is going to be one day. I catch ghosts, with three of the best people in the world. But I might not have been here if I didn’t have someone stand up for me.” Erin took a step back from the microphone and thanked the teacher waiting to take over before motioning for Abby to meet her outside.

Abby didn’t hang around in her seat to hear what else was being said, she quickly rushed out to catch up with Erin. Before Erin had a chance to say anything Abby had enveloped her in a hug and buried her face in Erin’s neck. “I’m so sorry, I don’t think I ever realised how bad it actually was for you. Thankyou for bringing me with you today.” Abby whispered. “I’ve spoken to a few different age groups here now, the school is really cracking down on bullying, and the kids love the Ghostbusters it seems.” Erin explained as Abby relinquished her hold. “What you’re doing is so amazing, I am so proud of you Erin. But why the secrecy, you know I would support you in this 100%, why show me now?” Abby asked, a little hurt that Erin hadn’t told her about this sooner. “Holtzmann actually introduced me to the principal of the school, apparently she was one of the teachers Holtz had as a kid, one that helped her with the kids that used to bully her. She reached out to Holtz about coming to speak at the school. She suggested me instead. I’ve been coming ever since. I didn’t know how it’d go, and there was so much that I never told you when we were kids. But Patty cornered me when I got back last time, after I explained what it was she told me I needed to tell you. That this” Erin gestured between the two of them “wasn’t going to fix itself, I needed to be honest with you. You were my rock Abby, you kept me together when there were days I felt like I was being pulled into a million pieces. I loved-love you so much and I don’t want there to be any secrets. I don’t want things to go back to how they were. But I do want you. If you’ll still have me?” Erin asked, almost shyly. Abby on the other hand was crying, grinning like an idiot and just nodding. It was terrible how much she was being rendered speechless today.

**Author's Note:**

> This wasn't going to be an actual thing - and tbh it's not much of one. But Erin is like the perfect person to speak with kids about bullying. She's been there, experienced the horrors and survived. Plus she's a super cool Ghostbuster so the kids would love her. With the notoriety of being a Ghostbuster I think Erin would absolutely want to help kids anyway she could.
> 
> Though just an aside, bullying is such a huge issue. Stand for the Silent is an amazing organization who go into schools to talk to kids and bring awareness to bullying and what it can cause - this is what prompted my little story today.


End file.
